In August, I had the pleasure of joining a workshop for English interpreters in Edinburgh, Scotland – a city that seems to breathe language, history, and just a hint of sea breeze.
\nOne topic that kept coming up again and again was idioms, and how they reveal so much about the cultures that created them.<\/p>\n
In British English, countless idioms come from seafaring, which is hardly surprising for an island nation. Expressions like
\n– \u201call hands on deck,\u201d
\n– \u201cto weather the storm,\u201d
\n– \u201cto be in the same boat,\u201d
\n– \u201cto know the ropes\u201d
\nall trace back to life at sea. Even when no one in the room has ever sailed a ship, the imagery is still part of everyday speech, a quiet echo of Britain\u2019s maritime past.<\/p>\n
In German, idioms often spring from the land rather than the sea: forests, crafts, and farming.
\nThink of:
\n– \u201cDa liegt der Hase im Pfeffer\u201d (that’s the fly in the ointment, lit. \u201cthat\u2019s where the hare lies in the pepper\u201d),
\n– \u201cN\u00e4gel mit K\u00f6pfen machen\u201d (to put wood behind the arrow, lit. \u201cto make nails with heads\u201d), or
\n– \u201cden Wald vor lauter B\u00e4umen nicht sehen\u201d (\u201cto not see the forest for the trees\u201d)
\nThey reflect a culture rooted in woodlands and workshops rather than waves and wind.<\/p>\n
What fascinates me is how idioms act as tiny cultural time capsules.
\nThey carry echoes of people\u2019s surroundings, work, and history, things speakers might not consciously think about, yet which quietly shape how they see the world.<\/p>\n
For us interpreters, idioms are both a challenge and a joy. They\u2019re rarely \u201ctranslatable\u201d word for word. Instead, they demand cultural sensitivity and creativity; it’s a challenge trying to find the image, rhythm, or emotional impact that resonates on both sides of the language bridge.<\/p>\n
In that sense, interpreting idioms really is like navigation: we read the winds and currents of meaning, and adjust our sails as we go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In August, I had the pleasure of joining a workshop for English interpreters in Edinburgh, Scotland – a city that seems to breathe language, history, and just a hint of sea breeze. One topic that kept coming up again and again was idioms, and how they reveal so much about the cultures that created them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nicht-kategorisiert-de"],"yoast_head":"\n